Transmission frame and radio unit with transmission frame

ABSTRACT

For transmitting messages in a radiotelecommunications network from a first subscriber station, a transmission frame at least two data fields with data in a first data format transmitted in a first data field of the short message, and data in a second data format, different from the first data format, are transmitted in a second data field of the short message, a first identification code, which identifies a makeup of the short message, is transmitted il} the first data field and includes information about at least one of a number of data fields, one or more data formats of data in the data fields, and a size of the data fields, and in each of two data fields, one data-field-specific identification code, which identifies a makeup and content of the corresponding data field, per data field is transmitted.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/283,590 filed on Nov. 17, 2005 which in turn is a division of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/857,805 filed on Jun. 11, 2001 now U.S.Pat. No. 6,987,980, from which patent applications the presentapplication claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e). Thesubject matter of the aforesaid patent applications is furtherexplicitedly incorporated herein by reference thereto.

The invention described and claimed hereinbelow is also described in thepatent application 198 56 4406 filed on Dec. 8, 1998. This GermanyPatent Application, whose subject matter is incorporated here byreference, provides the basis for a claim of priority of invention under35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a transmission frame and atelecommunications device having the transmission frame.

Short message services for transmitting short messages are alreadyknown. The short message services serve to send a short message to asubscriber of a telecommunications network without requiring that atelecommunications connection to the subscriber be made beforehand. Thisis of particular interest in mobile radio systems, since subscribers insuch systems are often unreachable. Incoming short messages are storedin memory by a network operator of the telecommunications network andforwarded to the intended subscriber at a later time. The subscriber isinformed of the arrival of a short message intended for him so that hecan download the short message from the network operator.

One example of a short message service is the Short Message Service(SMS) using the GSM standard (Global System for Mobile Communications).This short message service predetermines a transmission frame fortransmitting a short message of up to 160 7-bit ASCII (American StandardCode for Information Interchange) text characters.

Transmitting longer texts is possible with the aid of chained chortmessages. With the aid of this short message service, it is possible toproduce and read the short messages even using simple mobile radioterminals. Since by the GSM Standard provision is made only for texttransmission for the short messages, if binary data, such as audio data,image data or the like, are to be transmitted, they would have to beconverted into the text format and converted back again into the binaryformat after being received.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The transmission frame of the invention and the telecommunicationsdevice of the invention have the advantage over the prior art that atleast two data fields are provided; that data of a short message arestored in memory in the data fields; and that data in a first dataformat are stored in a first data field, and data in a second dataformat, different from the first data format, are stored in a seconddata field. In this way, a short message that includes different typesof data can be transmitted in a single transmission frame. Thusdifferent media, such as text data, audio data and image data, can beintegrated into a single short message in a simple way, making itpossible to form a multimedia short message.

A further advantage is that the transmission frame is not limited in itslength; instead, arbitrary data fields can be determined, lined up withone another, in the transmission frame.

Another advantage is that by lining up the data fields, a simpleseparation or downloading of the data of a single data field or mediumhaving text, audio, or image data is made possible. Since thus only theactually required part of the short message has to be downloaded by thenetwork operator of the telecommunications network, an economy oftransmission capacity can achieved.

It is especially advantageous that a first ID code, which identifies themake-up and/or the content of the short message, is provided in thefirst data field. In this way, a subscriber to whom the short message isaddressed can be informed especially easily of the makeup and/or contentof the short message if the network operator of the telecommunicationsnetwork transits merely the first data field to the intended subscriber.Based on this information, the intended subscriber can then decide whichparts of the data fields of the short message he would like to downloadfrom the network operator of the telecommunications network.

Another advantage is that the first data field is limited in its size toa predetermined value. Thus even a subscriber with limited storagecapacity ofor receiving short messages can be informed of the makeupand/or content of the entire short message by transmission of the firstdata field.

Another advantage is that the total length of the short message is notlimited.

It is also advantageous that in each of at least two data fields, onedata-field-specific ID code, which identifies the makeup and/or contentof the corresponding data field, is provided per data field. In thisway, a notice about the makeup and/or content of the entire shortmessage can also be generated by combining all the data-field-specificID codes and sending them to the intended subscriber, so that the firstdata field, above all in the case of a size limitation, will not beoverfilled with ID code data.

By means of the data-field-specific ID code, the intended subscriber ondownloading the associated data field from the network operator can beinformed still more precisely about this data field and can thus betteradapt a playback of the data transmitted with the data field to his ownplayback capabilities.

It is especially advantageous that the data stored in the first datafield are present in a data format that is readable by all thesubscribers of the telecommunications network. In this way, shortmessages can be sent at least in part to all the subscribers of thetelecommunications network. Furthermore, all the subscribers can atleast be informed of the short messages on hand in the network operator,even if they are unable to read certain data fields of the short messageintended for them.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown in thedrawing and described in further detail in the ensuing description.

FIG. 1 shows a block circuit diagram for transmitting short messages ina telecommunications network;

FIG. 2 shows a general makeup of a transmission frame; and

FIG. 3 shows one concrete example of a makeup of a transmission frame.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In FIG. 1, 60 designates a first subscriber and 65 a second subscriberof a telecommunications network 10, which is embodied in particular as aradiotelecommunications network, for example s a mobile radio network.The first subscriber 60 and the second subscriber 65 are each embodiedas a telecommunications device, in particular as a radio unit, forexample as a mobile radio device, service radio device, as a radiohandset, or the like. In FIG. 1, a network operator 70 of thetelecommunications network 10 is also shown; it can also be embodied asa telecommunications device, and in particular as a radio unit.

In the second subscriber 65, a short message 5 for the first subscriber60 is prepared and is broadcast, suitably addressed, to the networkoperator 70 via the telecommunications network 10. The network operator70 stores the short message 5 in memory and sends a message to the firstsubscriber 60 informing the subscriber about the presence of a shortmessage 5 addressed to it. This message can be sent to the firstsubscriber 60 for example once the network operator 70 ascertains anactivation of the first subscriber 60. If after receiving theaforementioned message the first subscriber 60 asks the network operator70 to transmit the short message 5, then the network operator 70 firstsends a notice to the first subscriber 60 that informs the subscriber 60of the makeup and/or content of the short message 5. The firstsubscriber 60 can then download the short message 5 either partially orentirely from the network operator 70, so that the short message 5 istransmitted partially or completely by the network operator 70 to thefirst subscriber 60.

In FIG. 2, the makeup of a short message 5 of this kind is shown. Theshort message 5 is transmitted in a transmission frame 1 from the secondsubscriber 65 to the network operator 70. The transmission frame 1includes a first data field 15, a second data field 20, and optionally athird data field 25 and a fourth data field 30. The first data field 15includes a first ID code 35, which identifies the makeup of the shortmessage 5. in addition, a second ID code 40, which identifies thecontent of the short message 5, can be provided in the first data field15. The first ID code 35 and the second ID code 40 can also be combinedinto a single ID code that identifies the makeup and/or content of theshort message 5. Also stored in the first data field 15 are data in afirst data format. In the second data field 20, data in a second dataformat, a different from the first data format, are stored. Data whosedata format can differ from the data format of the first data field 15or the second data field 20, but need not necessarily do so, are alsostored in the e optionally present further data fields 25, 30. If morethan two data fields are provided in the transmission frame 1, then datain a different formats are stored at least in two of the data fields,but the position of these data fields in the transmission frame 1 doesnot matter.

Dashed lines in FIG. 2 indicate that the first data field 15 canadditionally include a first data-field-specific ID code 45, whichidentifies the makeup and/or content of the first data field 15.Correspondingly, the second data field can include a second data-fieldspecific ID code 50, which identifies the makeup and/or content of thesecond data field 20. The third data field 25 can correspondinglyinclude a third data-field-specific ID code 55, which identifies themakeup and/or content of the third data field 25, and the fourth datafield 30 can include a fourth data-field specific ID code 75, whichidentifies the makeup and/or content of the fourth data field 30.

The first ID code 35 can include indications about the number of datafields 15, 20, 25, 30 in the short message 5. In addition or as analternative, the first ID code 35 can include data about the dataformats of the data stored in the data fields 15, 20, 25, 30. Inaddition or alternatively, indications about the size of the data fields15, 20, 25, 30 can be included in the first ID code 35. In that case,the second ID code3 40 can include indications about the type of thedata stored in the data fields 15, 20, 25, 30. For instance, the secondID code 40 can include indications as to whether audio data or imagedata are stored in a data field.

It can now be provided that the network operator 70, upon the request ofthe first subscriber 60, will forward the first data field with thefirst ID code 35 and the second ID code 40 to the first subscriber 60,so that on the basis of the information, transmitted in the first IDcode 35 and the second ID code 40, about the makeup and/or content ofthe short message 5, the first subscriber 60 can check which data fieldsof the short message 5 it is capable, on the basis of its functionality,of downloading and/or playing back from the network operator 70. Also,in the first subscriber 60, a decision can be made as to which of thereadable data fields of the short message 5 are to be downloaded at allfrom the network operator 70, if not all the readable data fields of theshort message 5 are of interest to the first subscriber 60, for the sakeof economy of transmission capacity. If by the request of the firstsubscriber 60 the entire first data field 15 with the first ID code 35and the second ID code 40 is to be transmitted to the first subscriber60, then it should as much as possible be assured that the data storedin the first data field 15 are in a data format that is readable by allthe subscribers of the telecommunications network 10. this is trueparticularly whenever the data stored in the first data field 15,together with the data in the first ID code 35 and in the second ID code40, are in text format; the SMS (Short Message Service) format by theGSM Standard (Global System for Mobile Communications), for instance, isattractive, since it is readable, in a telecommunications networkembodied by the requirement of the GSM system, by the subscribers ormobile radio devices of this subscriber that are embodied by the GSMStandard. Then the first data field 15 can correspond to the data fieldalready prescribed for the SMS by the GSM Standard and can be limited inits size to the 160 7-bit ASCII (American Standard Code for informationInterchange) text characters. The other data fields 20, 25, 30 need riotbe limited in their size.

A further data format for the first data field 15, which is likewisereadable, as an alternative to the text format, by all the subscribersof the telecommunications network 10, is the binary encoding of thereferences to entries in tables of the kind that contain known dataformats and are now to all the subscribers of the telecommunicationsnetwork 10.

At least some of the data stored in the first data field 15, such as thedata of the first ID code 35 and/or the data of the second ID code 40,in that case comprise binary-encoded values that represent the indicesof the table entries. In the tables, known data types and/or dataformats, such as audio and/or Video formats, are assigned to theseindices.

The data-field-specific ID codes 45, 50, 55, 75 can also includeindications about the data formats in the respective associated datafield 15, 20, 25, 30 and/or about the size of the respective associateddata field 15, 20, 25, 30 and/or about the type of data in therespective data field 15, 20, 25, 30. If it is agreed that the data inthe first data field 15 are in the GSM-SMS text format, and this datafield is limited for instance to 160 y-bit ASCII text characters, thenthe first data-field-specific ID code 45 can also be omitted. It can beprovided that only data in a single data format are stored in each datafield 15, 20, 25, 30. However, it can also be provided that in at leastone of the data fields, data in a plurality of data formats are stored,in particular in the second data field 20 and/or optionally in one ormore further data fields 25, 30. Naturally, it can also be provided thatthe snort message 5 includes more than four fields shown in FIG. 2.

It can also be provided that the notice from the network operator 70 tothe first subscriber 60, in response to the request by the subscriber tothe network operator 70, about the makeup and/or content of the shortmessage 5 is prepared by evaluation of the data-field-specific ID codes45, 50, 55, 75 and is then sent to the first subscriber 60, so that inthis case, the first ID code 35 and the second ID code 40 are notneeded, and the first data field 15 does not have to be sent to thefirst subscriber 60, either. The notice, generated in this way, aboutthe makeup and/or content of the short message 5 can, however, also besent to the first subscriber 60 in a data format that is readable by allthe subscribers of the telecommunications network 10; for that purpose,once again, the GSM-SMS text format using a data field with 160 7-bitASCII text characters, can for instance be provided in particular.

A concrete example of a transmission frame 1 for a short message 5 willnow be described in conjunction with FIG. 3. The short message 5 isembodied as a multimedia short message. FIG. 3 d, identical referencenumerals identify the same elements as in FIG. 2. According to FIG. 3,the first data field 15, second data field 20 and third data field 25are provided in the transmission frame 1. No data-field-specific IDcodes are provided in the individual data fields 15, 20, 25. The firstdata field 15 includes text data in the ASCII text format; the seconddata field 20 includes audio data, for instance in the WAV (Wave)format; and the third data field 25 includes image data, for instance inthe GIF format (Graphic Interchange Format). The first data field 15with the text data is text-formatted in accordance with the GSM-SMS. Adashed line between the first ID code 35 and the second ID code 40 inFIG. 3 indicates that the first ID code 35 and the second ID code 40 inFIG. 3 indicates that the first ID code 35 and the second ID code 40 canbe combined into one common ID code. This kind of common ID code 35, 40indicates both the number of data fields 15, 20, 25 and the content andsize of the second data field 20 and third data field 25. Hence thecommon ID code 35, 40 can look like this:

“Multipart/2/Audio/7654/Image/12345”.

This common ID code 35, 40 states that what is involved is a shortmessage from a plurality of data fields, as indicated by the code word“Multipart”. The numeral “2” indicates that besides the first data field15, which is always present, having the text data and a length of 1607-bit ASCII text characters, there are also two further data fields 20,25 in the transmission frame 1 of the short message 5. “Audio” is namedas the first data type in the common ID code 35, 40; thus the common IDcode 35, 40 tells that the data stored in the second data field 20 areaudio data. The second data type is named “Image” in the common ID code35, 40; thus the common ID code 35, 40 tells that the data stored in thethird data field 25 are image data. Following the data type in thecommon ID code 35, 40 is the size of the associated data field 20, 25 ineach case, so that the common ID code 35, 40 tells both the length of anaudio file having the audio data, transmitted in the second data field20, which is 7654 bytesm and the length of an image file with the imagedata, transmitted in the third data field 25, which is 12345 bytes. Forthe first data field 15, no indications are required in the common IDcode 35, 40, since in the example described, it always includes textdata, which are compatible with the GSM-SMS text format and which arelimited in number to 160 7-bit ASCII text characters. Provisions canadditionally be made so that the common ID code 35, 40 also indicatesthe data format for the data in the second data field 20 and in thethird data field 25. For the audio data in the second data field 20, theWAV format could then be indicated as a data format in the common IDcode 35, 40. For the image data format in the common ID code 35, 40.However, it is also possible that the indications “Audio” and “Image” ofthe aforementioned common ID code 35, 40 simultaneously describe thecontent and the format of the data stored in the corresponding datafields 20, 25 as well, in which case it is then a prerequisite thataudio data always be present in a predetermined format, such as the WAVformat, and image data also always be present in predetermined format,such as the GIF format, in the corresponding data field of thetransmission frame 1.

As described, it is also possible to encode the data type and/or thedata format by way of tables known to all the subscribers of thetelecommunications network 10, for instance by means of a binary code.In a first table for data types, the data type “Text Data” can forinstance be assigned a numeral “1”, the data type “Audio Data” can beassigned the numeral “2”, the data type “Image Data” can be assigned thenumeral “3”, and the data type “Video Data” can be assigned the numeral“4”, and the numerals can be suitably binary-encoded. In a second tablefor data formats of the data type “Audio Data”, the data format “WAV”can for instance be assigned the numeral “1”, the data format “G.723”can be assigned the numeral “2”, the data format “G.728” can be assignedthe numeral “3”, the data format “MPEG-Audio” (MPEG stands for MotionPicture Expert Group) can be assigned the numeral “43”, and the dataformat “AMR” (Adaptive Multi Rate) car be assigned the numeral “5”; onceagain, these numerals can be suitably binary-encoded. In a third tablefor data formats of the data type “Image Data”, the data format “GIF”can for instance be assigned the numeral “1”, the data format “JPEG”(Joint Picture Expert Group) can be assigned the numeral “2”, and thedata format “BMP” (Bitmap) can be assigned the numeral “3”, and againthese numerals can be suitably binary-encoded.

In that case, the common ID code 35, 40 could look like this:

2/2/1/3/1

This common ID code 35, 40 makes the same statement as the one describeabove in text format. Here the first numeral “2” of the common ID code35, 40 stands for the number of data fields present, in addition to thefirst data field 15, in the transmission frame 1 of the short message 5.The second numeral “2” of the common ID code 35, 40 refers, within thefirst table for data types, to the data type “Audio Data” and thusstates that audio data are stored in the second data field 20. The thirdnumeral “1” in the common ID code 35, 40 refers within the second tablefor data formats of the data type “Audio Data” to the “WAV” data formatand states that the data stored in the second data field 20 are in the“WAV” data format. The fourth numeral “3” of the common ID code 35, 40refer within the first table for data types to the data type “ImageData” and thus states that image data are stored in the third data field25.

The fifth numeral “1” in the common ID code 35, 40 refers within thethird table for data formats of the data type “Image Data” to the “GIF”data format and states that the data stored in the third data field 25are in the “GIF” data format.

Based on the common ID code 35, 40 transmitted to the first subscriber60, a decision can be made in the first subscriber whether it makessense at all or is wanted to download the second data field 20 and/orthe third data field 25 from the network operator 70. If the firstsubscriber 6 lacks audio capacity, or in other words has no capacity ofprocessing or playing back audio data field 20 from the network operator70. If the first subscriber 60 has no image capability, that is, imagedata can not be processed or played back in the first subscriber 60,then again it makes no sense to download image data from the third datafield 25 from the network operator 70.

For selecting the data fields of the transmission frame 1 of the shortmessage 5 that are to be downloaded from the network operator 70,provision can be made for displaying the common ID code 35, 40 on adisplay device of the second subscriber 60.

The short message 5 could also include a transmission frame 1 comprisingprecisely two data fields 15, 20; in the first data field 15, the textdata with the common ID code 35, 40 are then present, as described,while in the second data field 20, a plurality of data types or mediaare combined. However, it can also be provided that N data types ormedia, to be transmitted in the short message 5, are distributed N orN+1 data fields in the transmission frame 1 of the short message 5. Inthat case, the first subscriber 60 can download all the data fields ofthe short message 5 from the network operator 70 either individually orall network operator 70 are also connected by landline. Provision canalso be made for one of the e two subscribers 60, 65 to be incommunication via a landline telecommunications network 10, and for theother of the two subscribers 60, 65 to be in communication via awireless telecommunications network 10, with the short messages 5 bothin the landline telecommunications network and the wirelesstelecommunications network 10.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofconstructions differing from the type described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied intransmission frame and radio unit with transmission frame, it is notintended to be limited to the details shown, since various modificationsand structural changes may be made without departing in any way from thespirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge,readily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent isset forth in the appended claims:
 1. In a radio telecommunicationsnetwork providing service to a subscriber device, a method, comprising:receiving a message at the subscriber device before delivery of a shortmessaging service (SMS) message to the subscriber device that the SMSmessage contains textual data and at least one of image data or audiodata; sending from the subscriber device a request that only a portionof the SMS message be forwarded to the subscriber device; and receivingonly a portion of the SMS message at the subscriber device based on therequest.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving only a portionof the SMS message comprises receiving only the textual data containedin the SMS message.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the SMS messagecontains image data and wherein the receiving only a portion of the SMSmessage comprises receiving the image data of the SMS message.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the SMS message contains audio data andwherein the receiving only a portion of the SMS message comprisesreceiving the audio data of the SMS message.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the SMS message contains image data and the subscriber devicecontains no image capability, and wherein the receiving comprisesreceiving the SMS message without the image data.
 6. The method of claim1, wherein the SMS message contains audio data and the subscriber devicecontains no audio capability, and wherein the receiving only a portionof the SMS message comprises receiving the SMS message without the audiodata.
 7. In a radio telecommunications network, a method, comprising thesteps: receiving a first short messaging service (SMS) message at asubscriber device informing the subscriber device that a second SMSmessage having textual content and non-textual media content isavailable for download; sending a request to download the second SMSmessage to the subscriber device; receiving the second SMS message withonly one of the textual content and non-textual media content at thesubscriber device.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the non-textualmedia content comprises audio content.
 9. The method of claim 7, whereinthe non-textual media content comprises image content.
 10. Atelecommunications device configured to perform the method of claim 1.11. A telecommunications device configured to perform the method ofclaim 7.